OUR MISSION

OUR VISION

To be a lead service provider in FNQ Primary Health Care by
empowering the FNQ community with the tools to drive their
personal allied health outcomes.

OUR CORE VALUES

Innocation

We strive to seek and demonstrate excellence with continual improvement in providing maximum standards of service to our clients in new and innovative ways.

Respect

All people have the right to be heard and treated with dignity and respect, have their privacy protected, and have their documentation treated in a confidential manner. We respect the person, their family and carers, their experience, their values, beliefs and culture. They also respect diversity among people, families, carers, colleagues and communities, in areas including class, gender, culture, religion, spirituality, disability, age, power, status and sexual orientation.

Advocacy

Concern for the welfare of others guides the work of health practitioners. They strive to uphold the human rights of people, families and carers, including full and effective participation and inclusion in society. We support the individual, and others (including children) who may be affected by the illness of a family member.

Excellence

We are committed to excellence in service delivery, and also to personal development and learning. This is supported through reflective practice, ongoing professional development and lifelong learning.

Attitudes

Attitudes are an established way of thinking or feeling that are typically reflected in a person’s behaviour, for example, a positive attitude towards employing people with a disability. Attitudes involve the interaction of beliefs, feelings and values, and a disposition to act in particular ways. Our attitudes help us to define how situations are seen, as well as define what is expected in behaviour towards a situation, person or object

Working in Partnership

We foster positive professional and authentic relationships with people, families, carers, colleagues, peers and wider community networks. Safe and professional boundaries are maintained. We work constructively to resolve tensions that may arise between partners in care. The professional diversity that can exist within teams is respected and valued and there is always endeavour to work in positive and collaborative ways that support multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary practice.

OUR TEAM

OUR SERVICES AND SPECIAL INTERESTS

COMMUNICATION AND SWALLOWING

We assist you to improve your communication and swallowing skills using individual assessment and therapy techniques eg. if you would like to manage your speech dysfluency with fluency strategies or if you would like to eat and drink safely with enjoyment we offer you rehabilitation & compensation techniques for your throat.

VOICE

Statistics show that professional voice users are in the 60% range of developing a vocal issue and prevention is simple hence we offer you:

preventative techniques to minimise the risk of developing issues with your voice.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

We offer individual coaching sessions to facilitate your awareness of and ways to improve the effectiveness of your voice use during when you are engaged in promotional, marketing, sales and public speaking events.

REFERRALS

We accept all referrals for adults aged 16+ and whilst we are able to participate in NDIS GPMP / TCA’s and Private Health Insurance rebates, we are a private boutique service with a fee.

SERVICE DELIVERY

We aim to;

visit you wherever you are in your own home, work-place, residential aged care facility, independent living and community home, corporate business, the Cairns Private Hospital or private clinical rooms.

provide services to your door from Mossman down to Cardwell and across to the Atherton Tablelands and Yarrabah or via electronic platforms such as Skype, Face-time or Zoom.

Gail Rogers, Director B.App.Sc. (S.P.)

Gail’s passionate interest in working in the area of communication and swallowing disorders developed after working as speech and language pathologist with many different clientele in various parts of the world. Following her graduation from La Trobe University in Melbourne she worked in the areas of early intervention, adult neurology and learning difficulties of all ages. Her clinical work also took her on many exciting learning travelling experiences in the UK, Canada, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.

Gail now thoroughly enjoys directing and consulting with the Specialised Speech Services team and Vocal Boot Camps with a variety of health professionals and corporate business personnel with similar philosophies; to promote client’s communication, swallowing and vocal skills and to see positive outcomes when applied to their everyday lives.

Sue, Bookkeeper

Sue is our diligent Bookkeeper and is very experienced in MYOB. Sue work attributes are greatly enhanced by her high personal values and positive character which align with ours at Specialised Speech Services and shine through her interactions with our team members and our clients.

Tammy, Administration Assistant

Tammy joined the Specialised Speech Services team this year as an medical administration work experience student and is now our administration assistant. She learning quickly about the range of allied health professions available in Primary Health Care and has an interest in completing her course to become a Medical Receptionist. She lives locally with her three children and husband, assisting with the financial administration of his business as well.

PRIVACY POLICY

SSS is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (the APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) which set out how we should collect, use, secure, or disclose personal information and how you cn access records containing your personal information. We also follow the APP guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Unless stated by you to the contrary, you acknowledge and consent to the use or disclosure of your personal information including your name, address, email address and other information you provide to us, in circumstances that are set out in the Privacy Policy, or permitted under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Collection of Information

We will generally collect your personal information from you directly. We collect personal information from you in various ways, such as when you communicate with us, when another health professional refers you to our service, if you book an appointment, or when you participate in any of our activities, events or programs. If we collect any personal information about you from another party, where practicable, we will take reasonable steps to inform you why we have collected the information and how we will use it.

The types of information we collect about clients includes their name and contact information, date of birth, developmental history, previous assessments and medical history as well as information about their home life, support networks and activities of daily living. We may also with your permission collect photos, video and audio recordings.

Some information we collect may be sensitive information. For example, we make collect information about family dynamics, areas of challenge and
difficulties faced. We will only collect sensitive information with your consent, or as otherwise permitted by law.

Use of Your Information

We collect personal information to enable us to properly assess, understand, diagnose, plan and implement support to clients, to refer clients to other professional services, to communicate with you, to manage accounts payable and receivable and to perform other activities related to SSS daily activities.

If you do not provide your personal information to SSS, we may be unable to assist you or your child, or you may be unable to participate in or have access to our clinicians, programs, events and activities. We also may not be able to assist you to access the best quality care from other professionals.

SSS may use this information for the following purposes:

To create and maintain contact records

To collect information required to assess, diagnose and form a
management plan

To complete written documentation about the services we have provided

To assist us in communicating with other professionals that you have
given us permission to collaborate with

To provide referrals to other professionals as needed

To conduct mail outs for marketing purposes

To communicate and cooperate with other health organisations and
professional bodies and government departments and agencies

Disclosure to Third Parties

SSS may disclose personal information to its contractors, government agencies, regulatory bodies, other professional associations, health insurance and funding agencies, and third-parties providing services to SSS only where it is in the client’s interests to do so and where you have explicitly consented for us to do so. We will not provide any of your details to another person without your consent unless we are legally required to do so.

SSS does not disclose personal information to individuals or organisations outside Australia.

Access, Accuracy and Security

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, complete and up-to-date. You can access and request correction of any personal information concerning you at any time. You may also request that we delete your personal information at any time. Any such requests should be made directly by contacting us at the details set out below.

We will take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

SSS maintains electronic and hard copy files on clients to carry out its functions efficiently. Hard copies of information are securely stored in files in locked cabinets. We do not use any government related identifiers as our own identifiers of an individual. Information that is no longer relevant or required is destroyed in a confidential manner.

SSS various database information is protected by password access.

Privacy and Our Website

Clickstream Data

Each time you visit the Website our server collects some anonymous information, known as click-stream data, including the type of browser and system you are using; the address of the Website you have come from and move to after your visit; the date and time of your visit; and your server's IP address.

We may collect this information for statistical purposes to find out how the Website is used and navigated, including the number of hits, the frequency and duration of visits, most popular session times. We may use this information to evaluate and improve the Website’s performance.

Cookies

A Cookie is a piece of information that our web server may send to your machine when you visit the Website. The Cookie is stored on your machine, but does not
identify you or give us any information about your computer.

A Cookie helps us to recognise you when you re-visit the Website and to coordinate your access to different pages on the Website. With most Internet
Browsers, you can erase Cookies from your computer hard drive, block all Cookies, or receive a warning before a Cookie is stored. If you want to do this,
refer to your Browser instructions or help screen to learn more.

More on Privacy

You can obtain further information about privacy in Australia and the protection of your personal information on the Australian federal Privacy Commissioner’s
website www.privacy.gov.au.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, would like to request access to your personal information or to correct it or wish to make a complaint regarding